Darkest days
by Paige Fan
Summary: One shot: when P kills P and other P kills that P... confused? You'll have to read to find out!


A/N AU again. I really should stop doing them. But what the hell, I like it. Anyway, weird story just read. By the way, can anyone think of a good title?

Disclaimer: If anyone doesn't know that I don't own Charmed, I suggest you visit the doctor. I only own the story.

Paige's POV

I can't believe this. I can't believe I'm here. Here at Phoebe's funeral, after Piper turned evil and killed her. One sister, dead at the hands of another. 

I can't cope with this. There are so many people here. I don't even know most of them. I guess that's what happens when you don't meet your sister until you're 22. 

Leo is here. Phoebe and I thought he might follow Piper in her path to evil but I guess we under-estimated him. He knew we'd have to vanquish Piper before she vanquished us and he helped us as much as he could but we were too late. And now Phoebe's dead.

I'll be next for sure. Piper won't rest until we're both gone. I can't believe what happened to her. I only knew her for a couple of years before she turned against us but I had time to get to know her so well. She was the sweetest, nicest, non-evilest person I ever met. I trusted her completely. Ha. No one would dream of trusting Piper now. We managed to get through an entire year of her trying to kill us before she succeeded. I think through that time Phoebe was steadily getting worse. I guess I can understand. Everything she grew up with was gone. Her parents, her grams, the sisters who she lived with – all gone. The only thing left was the manor. Well, it was the only thing left until Piper almost completely wrecked it when she was attacking us.

Phoebe couldn't cope with Piper's going evil. On most days she didn't have enough energy to get out of bed. I had to force her to eat, and most of the time she brought it back up not long afterwards. Just before Piper killed her she was really bad. I think she might have died naturally soon anyway. 

Sometimes I think I should just give up. I should let her kill me. Then I could join Phoebe, Prue, and my foster parents. Grams, mum, dad, everyone. But that's selfish. I have to keep trying to vanquish Piper because if she vanquishes me she'll be able to take over the under-world and destroy the world. I'm the only thing in her way.

The service has started. In a minute I'll have to go up and say my bit. I can't. I just can't. What can I say? I've written my speech and I guess I'll have to say it but it'll be so hard. Oh well. Here I go. 

"Four sisters. Prue, Piper, Phoebe and me. Two are gone. Two remain. I never met Prue, my oldest sister, but I consider myself very fortunate to meet Phoebe. She was the sweetest and most loving sister I ever met. As most of you know, I joined the family late but Phoebe made me feel welcome and for the years that I knew her I felt very lucky to be her sister. Her death is -," My voice began to crack. "Her death is one of the worst things that I've ever experienced." I glance up to the sky. "Phoebe, I love you and – and I'm so sorry things turned out like this." I can barely get the words out. "You guys were the best thing that ever happened to me. I'll never forget you."

I manage to make it back to Leo before I break down completely. He holds me while I try to compose myself.

"I'm sorry," I say, after a minute. I press my lips together to stop sobs escaping and face the front where a friend of Phoebe's who I've never met is speaking. 

************

Well, I made it through the funeral and the reception. Now it's just the rest of my life. The last few people are leaving and the house will be empty. Empty except for me. Leo has moved in and is living in Piper's old room but he's gone out. I don't know where. I just want to curl up and wait for Piper to come and get me. 

It's getting late but I'm not moving. I've been sitting in this chair since the end of the funeral and I don't want to move. Not now, not ever.

I look up as I hear Leo orbing in. His face is pained. He looks like he's aged about fifty years. So do I, probably. He looks at me.

"Have you moved at all?"

I shake my head. Leo comes and sits down next to me. I looked at him.

"Leo, how are we going to do this? I don't have the strength to vanquish Piper. I'm going in the same direction as Phoebe. And as time goes on I'm just going to get worse. I don't think I can vanquish her."

Leo gives me a hug. We've all become closer, Leo, Phoebe and I. Just Leo and I now. I feel like I've known him forever, like a brother. And I love him like I would love a brother. 

"Paige, this past year has been really hard," he says softly. "For all of us. 

For both of us. Piper going evil, the three of us getting depressed, and then Phoebe's death. There's nothing we can do except vanquish Piper. Then we can curl up and die if we want to. But Piper has to die too. Paige, you and Phoebe have got me through this year. Without you guys I would've gone evil with Piper or I would've been a dead white-lighter."

He smiles at me. "Thank-you."

I smile back. "You too," I say.

"Oh, how touching," a voice sneers. We whip around. Piper is standing in front of us, holding two small bottles with red liquid in them. I recognise them immediately. Vanquishing potions. I hold my hand out and whisper, "Potions."

Nothing happens. Piper laughs. "Do you really think you can summon them? They're magic-proofed. You can't do anything to them."

I stare at her. 

"Piper, don't do this," Leo pleads. He glances at me and I read what he's planning in his eyes. "Piper, do you remember our first date? I took you out for dinner and we were both so nervous we could barely talk?"

It's working. All Piper's attention is on Leo. I sneak closer to her, one eye on her, one on the potions.

"Do you remember when I proposed to you? We were –,"

Piper shakes her head. "No," she says. "That was, happy, good, weak -," she shakes her head again, and sees me. Knowing it's now or never I lunge for her and try to grab hold of the potions. Piper drops one. It falls to the floor and smashes. She and I stare at it. Piper looks at me. Her eyes are blazing.

"You'll be sorry, witch. Watch this!" Piper throws the remaining potion straight at Leo. It hits as I watch in horror. Leo screams. Piper grins at me and shimmers out. 

I run to Leo. "Sorry Paige," he gasps weakly. "Now move it before I die and crush you."

"No!" I scream but it's too late. I know it is. There's nothing I can do now except watch. Leo falls to the floor. I know he's gone. 

"Damn you, Piper," I scream. "I will get you!"

I curl myself into a ball on the floor and cry. I cry in fear, grief, and anger. There's no one left. My family are gone and any friends I might have had were lost after Piper turned evil. I just didn't have time for them anymore. I hold my hand out, planning to call for something to end my life. I can't make my voice work. I can't call something if I can't say the words. I give up and let my hand fall back. My body is racked with sobs. 

A warm glow settles above me. I look up and gasp at what I see.

"Phoebe?" I whisper.

"Paige," she says, softly and urgently. "There's not much time. Don't give up, Paigey-girl." The use of my nickname makes me hopeful. "Search the attic."

"But -," I begin.

"No, just search. I love you." Phoebe disappears.

"No," I yell, reaching out to where she had just been. "No, come back. I need you. I can't do this on my own." No one appears. I choke back my sobs and wearily push myself off the floor.

************

Leo is lying on the couch. He looks like he sleeping, but I know better. I am in the attic, searching for a way to vanquish Piper. I already know it's no use. Over the past year we've searched this book more times than I can count. I've almost memorised every single spell. 

But then, Phoebe didn't say, "search the book." She said, "search the attic." Maybe there's something else in the attic that will help me. I close the book and look around at the piles of junk.

************

It's no use. I've been up here over two hours. I've found a lot of clues as to what my sisters used to play with when they were little, but absolutely no clues of how to vanquish Piper. In frustration I pick up the nearest object, a small hobbyhorse, and throw it hard at the wall. I sigh as a few bricks fall out. Great. Now I've wrecked the attic. I go closer and stare as I see a wooden box in the hole. It must have been hidden in the wall. By who? And why? I take the box and carefully open it. Inside there are photos and paper with writing on it. Quickly I take out the photos. They look quite old. There's one with a girl, about four and a boy, about two. 'Patty and Peter Halliwell', it says on the back. Patty? Patty as in Mum? But she didn't have a brother. I look through the paper. Two birth certificates. One for Patty Halliwell, judging by the date it has to be mum, and one for Peter Halliwell, dated two years after our mum's. So Mum did have a brother. Why didn't we know about him? Unless… I dig deeper in the box and pull out an old diary. I flick through and stop on a random page. I strain to read the faded writing. By the sound of it the diary is Grams'.

__

'Peter is getting worse. Well, what could I expect? I always knew this would happen ever since he was born. A boy! Our family doesn't have boys. So it's no major shock that he's evil. But we need to do something about him. Today he flamed in and almost killed Patty. Luckily, my white-lighter was able to heal her. But she was only just in time.

As much as it pains me, I know that I'll have to vanquish him. My own son!'

I stop reading, excited. This must be what Phoebe meant. There must be a way to vanquish Piper in here! I flip forward a few weeks and start reading again.

__

'This is awful. Since he is a Halliwell there is only one way to vanquish Peter. I have to make the potion to vanquish the Dream Demon but instead of adding shredded herb at the end I add the blood of a close blood relative, it'll have to be Patty, being his sister, and – this is the bad part – the blood of whoever vanquishes him. When it hits Peter he'll be vanquished but so will the vanquisher. I have to vanquish him but if I do that means I'll die too. But I can't. Patty needs me and she's already been chosen to be the mother of the Power of Three. I can't willingly desert her.'

I stop reading. OK. That's what I'll do then. I go over to the book and look up the Dream Demon page. It doesn't take long. I know it by heart. I carry the book downstairs and into the kitchen to start making the potion.

Half an hour later I add my own blood and finish the potion. I get the scrying crystal and the map and begin scrying for Piper. It takes a while. Scrying was never my art. Making potions was more of my thing. Phoebe was good at scrying. She could do it in a second. Takes me a long time. But anyway, I finally get a location. 10 George St. Without a second thought I put the potion in a small bottle and orb over there.

Piper looks up as I orb in. "Well, hello my dear little sister," she says. "Come in, sit down, would you like some coffee? No, pity, we won't have time for that. You'll be joining your 'loved' ones soon."

"Yes, I will," I say. I hold up the potion. "And you'll be coming with me."

Piper pales. She knows exactly what I'm holding. 

"You'd be taking yourself out too," she says. And then it hits me. It really hits me that I'm going to die too. I hesitate. Piper smirks, confident she's got me. I look at her and for a second I see the sweet, caring, loving older sister I once knew. The next second it's gone and once again I see the Piper who killed my sister, my brother-in-law, her own husband. The Piper who betrayed us so badly we could never have imagined it. And I figure, What the hell, I'll do it. There's nothing left for me to live for. No family, no friends, no one. I'm prepared to die, so long as Piper comes with me.

"Here goes," I say.

Piper's eyes widen. "No," she says. "You wouldn't hurt your sister!"

Once again, I waver, and hate myself for doing it. But the words 'your sister' hit me hard. However evil she is, I know I can't kill her. 

"See?" Piper says in an overly caring voice. "It's not so bad." I glance down at the floor and out of the corner of my eye I see her hand reaching out to a potion on the bench. I keep my head down, pretending to accept her. Piper comes closer. 

"There Sis," Piper says. "It's ok, Paigey-girl." I tremble to hear my old nickname on the lips of this monster. I put what I hope is a defeated look in my eyes. 

Piper smiles sickly at me, as though she can't quite remember the movement. 

"Here, give me the potion," she says. "Give your sister the potion." My head snaps up.

"You are _not_ my sister,' I say coldly.

Piper screams as I throw the potion. I heard the smash of the bottle as it hits the floor. I feel a red-hot heat begin to crawl up my body. I scream, then sink into a blissful oblivion. My last thought is for relief as I feel the life leaving my body.

***********

I open my eyes to a bright light. Somehow, it doesn't bother me or hurt my eyes. There are people standing in front of me. I squint to make out who they are and see my mother, my grandmother and the sisters that made it here. Phoebe and Prue reach down to help me up, then envelop me in hugs. I smile, knowing that at last, I'm home. 

A/N you like? It's weird, I know. Thanks for reading.


End file.
